Go Back  PPRuNe Forums > Aircrew Forums > Rotorheads
Reload this Page >

Least Favorite Maintenance Tasks

Rotorheads A haven for helicopter professionals to discuss the things that affect them

Least Favorite Maintenance Tasks

Old 2nd Nov 2022, 14:06
  #1 (permalink)  
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2021
Location: Southern United States
Posts: 121
Likes: 0
Received 60 Likes on 30 Posts
Least Favorite Maintenance Tasks

Mechanics/Technicians, thought about starting a thread on this topic this morning: what’s the least favorite maintenance task on the particular helicopter(s) you’ve worked on?

For me it’s as follows:
AH-64 Apache, 3 point safety wiring for canopy jettison initiators, have to lay upside down in cockpit floor and use a mirror. Then hear QC tell you “looks beautiful! Too bad you did it backwards” because, mirror!🤣

CH-47 Chinook:
Hydraulic System Purification post phase. Sit around waiting for 30 gallons of hydraulic fluid to filter(4+ hours) til the water content was down to below 10 parts per million. Really. Knowing that the first time you pop open a brand new can of 83282 and service the system it’s gonna have 30 plus parts per million in it.

UH-60 the “30/30”, 30 minute ground run/30 minute hover for transmission serviceability check after chip light. We call it doing a “penalty run”. 🤣 And blade de-ice systems checks. Adjusting/safety wiring the tail rotor control quadrant stops in the cabin ceiling. Adjusting collective balance springs(soon to be a thing of the past, last 10 60L’s leaving before the end of the year, YAY! Hooray for collective trim actuator on 60M)🤣

I’m sure I’ll think of more, I’ve probably blacked them from memory. Some that I thought were bad when I was an Apprentice Mechanic are no biggie now, funny how perspectives change with knowledge/experience.

Curious to see what others have to share!

FltMech

60FltMech is online now  
Old 2nd Nov 2022, 15:23
  #2 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Downeast
Age: 75
Posts: 18,267
Received 467 Likes on 191 Posts
Has changing a Utility Hydraulic System Manifold gotten any easier. on the Chinook.

Used to take two people....one inside reaching up through the access panel with a single hand and unable to see what the hand was doing....and one up above looking down giving verbal directions.

I forget how many connections there were but it was pushing twenty or so as I recall.

Then on the Huey....212/412.....there was the infamous "Hell Hole" and its myriad of hydraulic and oil lines....all of which leaked....into which one had to crawl under the aircraft then wiggle up into said "Hole"
SASless is offline  
The following users liked this post:
Old 2nd Nov 2022, 15:51
  #3 (permalink)  
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2021
Location: Southern United States
Posts: 121
Likes: 0
Received 60 Likes on 30 Posts
Utility Hydraulics

SASless,
Oh yeah, I forgot about that one! This task is exactly the same as you remember. we did a #2 manifold one time(opposite side of the pylon), a Rosan fitting blew out of the manifold body, emptied the #2 system. We robbed a complete manifold from a deadlined aircraft and took is out to the downed aircraft at the stagefield(Goldberg) and commenced to change it.

it was quite cold out, and windy. I had Carhartt coveralls on folded up in the access on the right side of the pylon and my partner was on the other(windier side) Fun times.

Funny side note: when we tore down the damaged manifold the transfer the parts across to a new manifold body a couple months later the return filter was completely full of brass colored metal shavings. In 22 years I’ve never seen a more plugged up filter. And that’s a big filter, as you know.

We showed the Maintenance manager what we found and he immediately pulled the aircraft down for a hydraulic purification, which was a big deal as we only had like 9 flyable aircraft out of 32 at the time!

Ahhh, the bad old days…

FltMech
60FltMech is online now  
Old 2nd Nov 2022, 16:04
  #4 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: US
Posts: 175
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Replacing fuel cells on just about medium or large helicopter and then seeing no drips you go home happy, only to find a puddle in the morning. Then you get a deserved reaming from your domestic partner for putting jet.fuel smelly clothes in the machine at home, thereby making it a bad day all around. Better yet, on an AW 109E, I once had to put 3 different NEW fuel cells in before I got one that didn't leak right through the fabric but not until they had been in service for a day or two. These were not pin holes but whole sections of bonded bladder that just leaked. And another one, is putting a self sealing tank into an OH-58, especially if the bladder is a little old. Like putting 10 pounds of you know what into a 5 pound bag.
roscoe1 is offline  
Old 2nd Nov 2022, 21:23
  #5 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Den Haag
Age: 57
Posts: 6,218
Received 317 Likes on 176 Posts
I think single engine change in a 212 was not a favourite as I recall. The whole twin pack change idea didn’t gel with the commercial world….
212man is online now  
Old 2nd Nov 2022, 23:26
  #6 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: USA
Posts: 750
Received 24 Likes on 19 Posts
Originally Posted by 60FltMech
: what’s the least favorite maintenance task on the particular helicopter(s) you’ve worked on?
Hmmm... where to start.

- Track and balance -100 series 412 M/R blades with original RADS.
- Rotorbrake change AS355
- Any electrical issues AS355
- One piece windshield change AS350 during winter.
​​- Trying to snap upper snaps on old BO105 main fuel cell AND getting the interconnect "donuts" to seal
- Cleaning/inspecting floor tunnels on EMS BO105
- Chasing a torque split on a 222 with 101-650s installed
- C-box change 212 without modified support.
- Bleeding oleo struts on SA315B
- Replacing main fuel cell 206L without the "zipper" opening.
- Packing Hughes 500 floats
- Packing BO105 factory 4-pack floats
- Packing S76 floats without a board
​​​​​- Any maintenance I needed to take a boat to get to.
- And........

Almost makes me want to go back to work.... not. But we sure had fun.
wrench1 is offline  
The following 2 users liked this post by wrench1:
Old 3rd Nov 2022, 01:15
  #7 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Downeast
Age: 75
Posts: 18,267
Received 467 Likes on 191 Posts
Anything to do with the front end of the S-58T.....that required removing all of the ductwork.....which resembled a HVAC ducting nightmare.
SASless is offline  
Old 3rd Nov 2022, 01:45
  #8 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: US
Posts: 175
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
I'd forgotten that one. 58T is where I learned to hate stainless steel cam-locs in hard to turn places. Still have a couple of scars from that sheet metal.
Working on the AS350D model electrical wiring before people got smart and went to circuit breakers and ring terminal blocks was always a joy. What were the engineers thinking? And who decided that wires on landing lights lamps should be so short that you can barely get to the screws? Also, don't get me started on changing out old cyclic trigger switches, Chinese hat switches, etc. that have been changed a couple of times and the wires just keep gettin' shorter........






Last edited by roscoe1; 3rd Nov 2022 at 02:01.
roscoe1 is offline  
The following users liked this post:
Old 3rd Nov 2022, 06:23
  #9 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: N/A
Posts: 5,881
Received 362 Likes on 192 Posts
In our organisation I'm sure they would have said getting a pilot to do the post maintenance ground run or flight, they seemed to run for the doors or come up with some excuse, I'm waiting for a phone call was always well used. Me, I jumped at the chance as it got one away from crew room politics. If it needs any explanation pilots were staff and subject to a yearly appraisal for a pay rise, politics ruled, helping maintenance was not some thing on managements radar.
megan is offline  
Old 3rd Nov 2022, 11:13
  #10 (permalink)  
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2021
Location: Southern United States
Posts: 121
Likes: 0
Received 60 Likes on 30 Posts
Truth be told…

Loving the responses so far!

Someone said above “makes me want to go back to work…not. But we sure had fun!” That’s the truth! Some of the least favorite or hard task had the payoff of the feeling of accomplishment when you did it quicker than the other guy.
I remember removing a #2 engine fuel control off a Chinook without pulling the engine (T55-GA-714) just to see why nobody did it that way. Turns out there’s one safety on a bolt that is REALLY easy with the engine removed, not so much when it’s installed. 🤣But, we got it done.

Or the camaraderie of the team you are working with being told, “I bet you can’t…” Challenge accepted! Locked out forward head on a Chinook, Measured axial play on the swashplate drive link and reconnected pitch links with logbook entries cleared in 23 minutes because this one Nitpicking Flight Engineer never wanted to fly.

Someone else said something about RADS, thought about that yesterday as we were doing 120 hour vibe checks on a UH-60M. IVHUMS is such a wonderful thing, no more running wires all over the aircraft with an AVA kit(what the Army calls RADS), hooking em into the DAU and then having a bad wire, accelerometer etc or bad CADU.

Now everything is part of the aircraft, and it works great.

FltMech
60FltMech is online now  
Old 3rd Nov 2022, 16:58
  #11 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Bar to Bar
Posts: 795
Received 7 Likes on 2 Posts
Pilot task - Fitting/Removal of dual collective and cyclic on an EC135 when blessed with hands and fingers the size of an adult gorilla.
Sloppy Link is offline  
The following 6 users liked this post by Sloppy Link:
Old 3rd Nov 2022, 18:57
  #12 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Budapest
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Some examples from the MD900:


- removal of the NOTAR Fan Drive Shaft; you have to work lying upside down in the NOTAR inlet to remove the several fairings then the four mounting screws at the bottom of the shaft (assuming that that the NOTAR Fan is installed). The shaft itself is a thin walled aluminum part, so you have to be extremely careful not to damage it while sliding it through a narrow cutout towards the transmission.


- you need to perform fuel transfer and fuel tank integrity test every 100 hours. The tests take about 20-30 minutes each; however, it may take several hours to set the initial fuel levels required for each test through the two small fuel drain valves at the bottom of the fuselage.


- when the test fails, you have to remove the forward cabin floor panel to gain access to the fuel tank. The floor panel is installed with more than 100 screws and bolts (Air Methods universal floor panels). If the helicopter has the center console extension towards the rear, eight bolts will be installed within the console. You have to remove all console installed equipment in this area and somehow reach through the cables and connectors to remove these bolts. This task is not for mechanics with large hands.


- on each annual, you have to disassemble the landing gear, remove the paint from the crosstubes, inspect them with a 10x magnifying glass from outside and with a borescope from inside, and have them NDT-ed. Then, of course, apply new primer and topcoat before reassembly. It is really disappointing when, after all this, the crosstube fails during a normal landing a few months later...


- almost all work on the Automatic Flight Control System/EFIS/IFR instrumentation STC; not because it is so badly designed, but because it is so badly documented.
ZoltN is offline  
Old 3rd Nov 2022, 19:37
  #13 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Australia
Age: 58
Posts: 12
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Almost any corrosion repairs on an older AW139, you have to wear blinkers so you can concentrate on the area you are repairing and not all the other areas that also need attention. 0.012” honeycomb skins, if you see bubbles, it’s already through to the core, grrr.
airsail is offline  
Old 3rd Nov 2022, 21:11
  #14 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: USA
Posts: 750
Received 24 Likes on 19 Posts
Originally Posted by megan
I jumped at the chance as it got one away from crew room politics. .
We were fortunate that most pilots didn't mind mx flights unless you disturbed their safety nap. Then they never made it through their pre-flight. To mitigate, we kept a maintenance stand outside the pilot trailer window to recon the situation prior to entering.

roscoe1= Working on the AS350D model electrical wiring before people got smart and went to circuit breakers and ring terminal blocks was always a joy. What were the engineers thinking?
All the Aerospatiale engineers were on loan from the Renault truck works. They brought that cutting edge 100 year old technology with them to include that truck horn for the hydraulics switch. What was even more fun was dropping the overhead fuse panels on a AS355.
wrench1 is offline  
The following users liked this post:
Old 3rd Nov 2022, 21:18
  #15 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Louisiana, USA
Age: 54
Posts: 67
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Tail rotor servo change on Bell 407....more fun with an ems or police ship and air conditioning. They love to cram stuff in the way. You can barley touch it from the tail boom access panel. Cant hardly reach it from the baggage compartment roof access panel. you will be removing racks and boxes and other crap. Not for husky mechanics, which of course I am one.
helofixer is offline  
Old 4th Nov 2022, 02:08
  #16 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: South East Asia
Posts: 430
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Ref. Megan, Post #9 (and at the risk of thread drift) You said, "....getting a pilot to do the post maintenance ground run...." Why couldn't you do a ground-run yourself?
Saint Jack is offline  
Old 4th Nov 2022, 04:14
  #17 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: After all, what’s more important than proving to someone on the internet that they’re wrong? - Manson
Posts: 1,838
Received 50 Likes on 36 Posts
Originally Posted by airsail
Almost any corrosion repairs on an older AW139, you have to wear blinkers so you can concentrate on the area you are repairing and not all the other areas that also need attention. 0.012” honeycomb skins, if you see bubbles, it’s already through to the core, grrr.
Seen that on a recently "offl-lease" offshore machine quietly imitating a selzer tablet in the corner of the hangar.
RVDT is offline  
Old 4th Nov 2022, 04:22
  #18 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: After all, what’s more important than proving to someone on the internet that they’re wrong? - Manson
Posts: 1,838
Received 50 Likes on 36 Posts
Originally Posted by wrench1
All the Aerospatiale engineers were on loan from the Renault truck works. They brought that cutting edge 100 year old technology with them to include that truck horn for the hydraulics switch. What was even more fun was dropping the overhead fuse panels on a AS355.
Pretty sure the fuel cap on a 350B came in a Peugeot box with a Peugeot part number.

You needed a "transverse lobotomy" prior to working on them so you could think like a Frenchman!
RVDT is offline  
Old 4th Nov 2022, 10:56
  #19 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Hedge
Posts: 226
Received 23 Likes on 6 Posts
Hmmmm..
  • Fuel Nozzles on PT6 Bell 212/412. If centre firewall is modified not to bad, but with my Sausage Fingers still a PITA
  • 206L3 Transmision Restraint Support.
  • Pretty much any Fuel tank aft of first Hell Hole 212/412 (412 even worse)
  • Anything on a MD500E for me. Especially front of engine.
  • AW139 Floats.
Salusa is online now  
Old 4th Nov 2022, 13:13
  #20 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: USA
Posts: 750
Received 24 Likes on 19 Posts
Originally Posted by RVDT
Pretty sure the fuel cap on a 350B came in a Peugeot box with a Peugeot part number. You needed a "transverse lobotomy" prior to working on them so you could think like a Frenchman!
Ha. But don't know if a lobotomy was enough with some items. Never seen a Peugeot/Renault box but have seen pic-tickets or the part itself stamped with vehicle brands on AS parts. The factory nose external load mirrors were everyday truck mirrors and the Lama ones I saw had Renault stamped on the back of the mirror. But no different than the Castrol oil used for EC135 transmission, same stuff for a Mercedes except for that LBA sticker on the back and an increase in price. Not a bad thing really as they've used vehicle parts rebranded as aircraft parts in aviation for eons.
wrench1 is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.